Three Men from Odisha Arrested With Leopard Skin West Bengal

Kolkata:  Three persons from Odisha were arrested by forest department officials of West Bengal on Monday while attempting to sell a leopard skin worth Rs 10 lakh in Madhyamgram in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district.

Alerted by intelligence reports that some persons from Odisha were staying in Madhyamgram to make contacts to sell a leopard skin, a team of the West Bengal forest department raided the village at late night on Sunday.

The Odia wildlife criminals were arrested during the raid. During interrogation, the trio confessed that they were trying to sell off the leopard skin brought from Odisha to a buyer in Kolakata through an agent.

Now it is suspected that an inter-state wildlife smuggling racket involving West Bengal and Odisha is continuing of which the arrested three are a part.

It is hinted that the arrested persons were mere couriers and the main operators of the racket are some influential persons from both the states. An investigation is on to identify the prospective buyer of the smuggled leopard skin in Kolkata.